1. What steps is the Welsh Government taking to protect the Welsh devolution settlement following the announcement by the UK Government to remove the Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017? TQ645

Thank you. The UK Government's announcement of their intention to repeal the Trade Union (Wales) Act 2017 is yet another example of their contempt for the devolution settlement and their disrespect for this democratically elected Senedd. We will do everything in our power to resist it.

That's exactly right, isn't it, Trefnydd? Because, since the beginning of democratic devolution, by election or referenda, the people of Wales have voted time and time again to enhance the law-making powers of the Senedd. The very principle established through democratic means is being undermined by the Westminster Conservative Government. This very Chamber is being undermined. The Prime Minister's contempt for the rule of law and of devolution is judged in equal measure in this case. 

Plaid Cymru have warned on several occasions about the undermining of this place through the legislative consent memoranda process. I really hope that this Chamber now wakes up to this blatant disregard to our Siambr here, for the Westminster Government to undermine a primary piece of Welsh legislation through their own legislation. The time for stern letters, the time for fury, has come to an end. We need action. To borrow a phrase from those who had to fight for their democratic freedoms, it's time now for deeds, not words. So, Trefnydd, what is the Welsh Government doing to respond to this shameful and undermining act? Diolch yn fawr. 

Well, I don't disagree with anything that you said, and you're quite right, this is not the first time. It's happened before, and I think, again, when it has happened before, when they've overreached constitutionally, which they have, we've not been found wanting, and we've certainly challenged at every opportunity. Currently, the UK Government haven't taken any direct action, so there is nothing at the moment to engage with. But, obviously, the Counsel General will be having discussions with lawyers and with other relevant partners, and, if or when the UK Government do take some direct action, obviously Welsh Government lawyers would be ready to respond. I just think the UK Government is obviously incredibly anti-trade union in its stance, and its approach shows a complete disregard for workers' rights. But primarily it's that disrespect for devolution and for legislation passed by this Senedd that, I think, is so brazen at this time. 

Llywydd, at the last general election, the Tories came to communities like mine in Alyn and Deeside, and they promised to level them up; they promised to make lives better. And there was a clear implication in that, and it was: if you vote Conservative, you'll have more money in your pockets and more opportunities for you and the children. But that's far from reality, isn't it? Because, this week, we saw the stark reality of what a Conservative Government offers to working people.

Two years ago, Minister, they stood and they clapped key workers. What a shallow gesture this applause and their so-called levelling-up agenda has proven to be. The reality is that they are laughing at us. They are looking to remove powers from the Welsh Government with the sole objective of suppressing workers' pay and undermining their terms and conditions. Not only does that disrespect and undermine this democratically elected institution, but it disrespects and undermines the working people of Wales and their families.

Minister, will you take the message to the UK Conservative Government that communities like mine, and those communities across Wales, are angry? And will you take the message to them and share our anger with the UK Government? And could you outline, if the do make steps to progress this piece of legislation, how the Welsh Government will resist this change on behalf of the working people of Wales? And, finally, Minister, do you also agree with me—and I say this, Llywydd, as a proud trade unionist, for the record—that the way for working people to protect their living standards is to join a trade union? 

Yes, absolutely. I agree with your final point. It's a very important point that you raise. Again, I don't disagree with anything Jack Sargeant said. I think the levelling up—. How can this possibly be levelling up? It's an absolute disgrace, this assault on our devolution again. I outlined, in my original answer, what the Counsel General is currently doing, and what will happen if, or when, the UK Government do take any direct action, and the Welsh Government lawyers, as I say, will be ready to respond, if that's the case. I think it's just another example—the UK Government have complete disregard to the Sewel convention—of why the current devolution settlement really is in need of reform, and why we have set up the independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales to consider ways of strengthening the current settlement, and this may well be an area they wish to look at, but, of course, that would be a matter for them. 

I speak as someone who strongly supports devolution, and I'm really pleased that we've got devolution of powers to the large English cities. But does the Minister agree with me that asymmetric devolution does not work, that the primacy of Westminster means that it can override any Welsh law and also interfere with any Welsh laws, that we need an agreed devolution settlement, with a proper reserved-powers model, as opposed to the reserved-powers model we've got at the moment, which has very little in common with a reserved-powers model, and, finally, that we need devo max? 

I think the primacy aspect of what Mike Hedges has said, in relation to the UK Government, is obviously very important. And I go back to my answer to Jack Sargeant—it's why we've set up that independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, and that can look very closely at the suggestions that Mike Hedges had, to see if we could strengthen the current settlement. 

I hadn't intended to stand, but I do recall, from correspondence with the Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee, that today is the second meeting scheduled for the Interministerial Standing Committee, and one of the items—one of the two items—that was scheduled, and we thank Ministers for their transparency with the Senedd on this, was, indeed, UK inter-governmental relations. Would we be safe to assume—I believe that may be taking place, as we speak here now—would we be safe to assume that these matters are being laid on the table this afternoon for discussion? Because that is the forum that should be resolving these issues before they end up in legal challenges?

That meeting is indeed taking place. Obviously, I'm not in that meeting; that's why I'm in the Chamber answering this question. But I think we can safely say, I'm sure, that the Counsel General or the First Minister, or whoever is present at that meeting, will indeed raise that. 

I think one other point I would like to make is that, having looked into this now in far greater detail, the UK Government's position I think is very much weakened in that it did not challenge five years ago, during the intimation period. And suddenly to do this, to sneak it out in the way that they did—again, I just think it's a brazen attack. 

I thank the Trefnydd. The next question is to be answered by the Minister for health, and is to be asked by Andrew R.T. Davies.